Remnants of the Original Inhabitants of South Vietnam - Khmers

Soc Trang Travel Blog

After the second day of touring
the central Mekhong region, Bohng Phatry and I went our own way and
dropped by in Soc Trang province. We obviously got scammed for the
price of the bus ticket (3 times the amount). We only found out later
on.. arghhh.

The journey to Soc Trang was an interesting one, as
the scenery and the people just changed. The white pale Vietnamese
complexion, soon changed into dark black Khmer complexion. House after
house that we came by were obviously Khmer. The scenery changed so
quick that it just seemed like as if we were in Cambodia.

Khmer
ruined temples dot the Mekhong Delta countryside, and we were fortunate
enough to visit a few, many in different states of disrepair. We
dropped into a Buddhist school, in Soc Trang town, and was surprised to
see classroom after classroom of Khmer monks, being taught in
Vietnamese by a Vietnamese lady.

A Vietnamese Communist monument in the centre of town

I obviously wanted to take a picture
of this, but was informed not to as it may stir up some trouble....
shrugs!

We were informed by the locals that they had been
stripped of their lands (rice fields) and had to resort to working on
the now Vietnamese owned rice fields.

The Khmer museum, was an
interesting little place. At the very entrance of the museum was a HUGE
portrait of Ho Chi Minh, and of course a Vietnamese and a Communist
flag. Inside were the remains of the unique Kampuchea Krom culture.
Many items in the museum were surprisingly unique and cannot be found
in central Cambodia.

It was a tad bit strange though, because
the local Khmer Krom's would always refer to South Vietnam as Kampuchea
Krom, and still call the provinces and towns by their ORIGINAL Khmer
names, right in front of the not so local Vietnamese living in the
area. I guess over time the not so local Vietnamese civilians have
adapted to this and know that yes, the lands once belonged to the
Khmer, and that they were powerless to stop the local Khmer's from
referring to their land's by their original names.